FOLLOWING the successful 2021 season, which saw the staging of an inaugural Over-50 tournament, the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) is embarking on another first with the introduction of a Winter season.

Set to get underway on Saturday, November 27, the proposed Winter season will be held at the luxurious and spacious Pickering Soccer Centre, Ontario with double-headers scheduled to be contested on a weekly basis, until April 2022. There will however be a break for the Christmas holidays.

An ebullient SCA president Shiv Persaud explained that his body has been exploring the option of a Winter season since 2019. He pointed out that the members were in full support.

“However, we were unable to proceed due to lack of availability of a suitable venue. Now that we have a great location and venue that is relatively new, following its opening in 2014, we decided it’s the perfect opportunity to launch the tournament.

The Guyanese-born Persaud highlighted that outdoor cricket is limited to the Summer season in Canada. He however said “It is critical to have competitive cricket for prolonged periods to truly develop the skillset and mindset of players.

“An indoor season during the winter, although a shortened game, will provide clubs with the opportunity to grow, in addition to their indoor training. It will be helpful in honing skills as well since players have to learn how to rotate strike and minimise dot balls. Bowlers have different playing conditions to adapt to with little room for error,” Persaud emphasised.

While the registration of teams has been somewhat slow, Persaud pointed out that he expects at least eight to participate in the inaugural season. “Ideally, we would have liked to begin planning in September, so it is all coming together in a relatively short period of time.

Nevertheless, we expect it to be a great season which can only get bigger in years to come as cricket continues to be arguably the fastest growing sport across Ontario. (Frederick Halley)